


Communication Skills

by PipTheShipper



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Feels, HYDRA sucks, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, Tony Stark Feels, winter soldier - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 19:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6718414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PipTheShipper/pseuds/PipTheShipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Stop, please."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Communication Skills

              “I’m just saying, maybe this isn’t the best idea,” Tony stammered, following Bucky to the Quinjet with an anxious expression that was hidden behind the faceplate of the suit. “I mean, HYDRA already hurt you once. It’s okay if you want to just sit this one out, nobody will blame you.”

              “Tony, I’ll be fine,” Bucky snapped, and Tony’s heart jerked a little with hurt. Lately, Bucky had been snapping at him more, and avoiding him. When Bucky first came to the tower with Steve, he and Tony had hit it off. They had quickly become really good friends, but recently that had changed, and Tony had no idea what he did wrong. Bucky probably had just gotten tired of him; that always happened.

              “Okay,” Tony murmured, and stopped, watching Bucky climb on and take his seat without even looking back. Natasha was the last one to get on, and she glanced back at him with sympathetic eyes. Tony swallowed, and the Quinjet took off. With a deep breath, Tony shot into the air and followed.

              HYDRA was launching an attack downtown from a building they had taken over, so Fury had called them in to take care of it. Wasn’t the first time, but it was the first since Bucky had officially joined the team and been authorized for battle. Hence Tony’s concern.

              On the way, he remembered to switch on his comm, which he usually forgot to do (come on, he was a genius; he couldn’t be expected to remember mundane things like that). Immediately, he heard Steve’s voice crackle out.

              “I mean it, Buck. You should tell him, before it becomes an issue.” Tony’s breath hitched in his throat; were they talking about him?

              “It’s already an issue!” Bucky snapped back. “Come on, you see the way he looks at me! It’s pretty obvious how he feels, so why the hell would I bring it up?”

              “Yeah, I’ve seen the way Tony looks at you,” Natasha agreed, her voice amused. “It’s pretty obvious he likes you, Bucky.” Tony turned off the comms, unable to listen to any more. Bucky had noticed how hopelessly enamored Tony was, and he didn’t feel the same (why would he?) so that was why he had been avoiding the engineer. Tony got it, but damn, it still stung.

              They reached the building HYDRA was supposedly attacking, and the Quinjet landed on the roof. Tony didn’t stick around; he immediately went inside to kick some ass. He really didn’t want to be around the team anyways, not after they knew.

              He crashed in through the window, and immediately shot a repulsor blast at the nearest HYDRA Agent. The man flew backwards with a pained yelp, and Tony whirled to fire at another. Before long, he had cleared the room, and he flew back out through the window. Natasha was kicking some HYDRA ass on the roof, whirling about and doing her thigs of death crap. Clint was perched on a ledge, taking them out with his arrows.

              Cap and Bucky were on the ground, passing the SHIELD back and forth like it was a Frisbee and knocking HYDRA Agents out in the process. Thor was a few blocks down, frying the bastards. Tony landed beside him and shot a couple of them. Thor smiled at him, and they continued fighting together. Out of everyone on the team, Tony just wanted to be near Thor.

              +

              Bucky helped Steve clear the streets, and took immense satisfaction in every shot, every crunch that indicated he had taken one of them out. After the streets were clear, Bucky turned to Steve with a feral grin.

              “I’m going to work on that building, you got the one on our six?” Steve nodded, and Bucky noticed the glee in Steve’s eyes. This was probably revenge for Steve in a way, so he could get back at them for what they did to Bucky. He was fine with that.

              He took off and stormed the building, and his vision went red a little bit. He wasn’t the Winter Soldier; he was just pissed. He immediately turned to the first one he saw and fired a bullet right between the eyes, surging forward and catching the body as it crumpled. He used the corpse as a shield when he turned to take out the rest. All the bullets penetrated the back of the dead HYDRA Agent, and soon the rest were dead.

              Bucky dropped the body in disgust, then bolted up the stairs, ready to take out the rest of those sons of bitches. He entered the next room, and froze. There, standing smugly in front of him, was one of his handlers. Bucky didn’t know his name, because they never told him, but he sure as hell recognized that face.

              “Stand down,” the man ordered in an infuriatingly calm voice. Bucky raised his gun, training it on the man.

              “Like hell,” he snarled, but the man only smiled.

              “Asset, stand down,” he said. Bucky felt his arm that was holding the gun freeze, and his lips twitched. There was something in his head rising up over him, and he grunted.

              “What the hell?” Bucky growled, and the man snapped his fingers.

              “Asset, stand down. Authorization Code 96117. Mission: apprehend Iron Man.” Bucky’s face went blank, and a cold, empty look entered his eyes. Slowly, he lowered the gun, and stood straight at attention. The man smirked.

              “The Asset is prepared to take orders,” the Winter Soldier intoned.

              “Asset, apprehend Iron Man,” the handler ordered.

              +

              Tony was busy on the roof, hacking the systems to find out what kind of information was stored in the databases when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned slightly, and was shocked to find Bucky striding towards him with the oddest expression on his face.

              “Bucky?” Tony asked nervously, a pit forming in his stomach. “Bucky, are you okay?” Bucky didn’t answer, and it was then that Tony noticed the look in his eyes. It wasn’t Bucky he was dealing with; it was the Winter Solider. Bucky raised a gun and pointed it directly at the Arc Reactor, causing Tony to freeze.

              “Come.” The word was barked out so quickly Tony almost missed it.

              “Excuse me?” he asked, raising his hands nervously.

              “The Asset is to apprehend Iron Man,” the Winter Soldier said gruffly. “Iron Man can either come, or The Asset will force him to come.”

              “Bucky, you don’t want to do this,” Tony pleaded, slowly lifting his hand to turn on his comm so the others would know what was going on.

              “Turn it on and I’ll shoot your hand off,” Bucky snarled. Tony immediately dropped his hands. He could shoot Bucky, but he didn’t want to hurt him, and the Winter Soldier’s reflexes were probably better anyway. Tony slid the faceplate off instead, and made eye-contact.

              “Your name is James Buchanan Barnes,” Tony began softly. “Your best friend is Steve Rogers. Stevie. You two have been best friends since childhood. He’s a real punk, but you love him anyways. My name is Tony. We’re- we’re friends. You’re a part of The Avengers. We help people, and keep them safe. Come on, Bucky. You know me. You know us. Stop, please.”

              “The Asset must bring in Iron Man,” Bucky repeated, but now he looked a little unsure. Tony slowly stepped forward, making sure he didn’t look threatening.

              “You love hot chocolate,” Tony continued. “You and Nat spar all the time, and you’re pretty evenly matched. Your favorite movie is Titanic, but you swear it’s really Robocop. You like it when I braid your hair. Clint calls you ‘cyborg’ and you think it’s funny. You sit in the love seat every Friday Night when we watch movies, and you always make me sit next to you. I complain, but I really love it because it makes me feel cared for. You always put your arm around my shoulders…” Tony trailed off, his eyes watering and his heart constricting at the memories.

              He had been slowly moving forward the whole time he was speaking, and now he was right in front of Bucky. Before he could think better of it, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Bucky’s. Bucky was a stone beneath him for the first few seconds, but then he began to respond. His lips moved with Tony’s, and they were warm and his breath smelled like mint. After a moment, Tony pulled away with tears in his eyes.

              Bucky was back to being Bucky, and he was staring at Tony with wide eyes. Tony turned away, and slid the faceplate up. He heard Bucky say his name, but he wasn’t listening; he was blasting into the sky and heading for home, for the safety of his lab.

              +

              Tony stayed down for a week. Everyone was fine after the battle, he knew, but he didn’t think he was ready to face Bucky just yet. Not after he had crossed the line and kissed him. God, while he was being mind-controlled, no less. Bucky didn’t want Tony to kiss him ever, yet he had anyways. At the time, it was the only thing he could think to do, but it had been a terrible decision. So, down in the lab he stayed.

              He had a fridge, and a bar, and a bathroom, and all the engineering crap he could ever want. There was no reason for him to step out. His plan was to stay until he drank himself to death. Or died of sleep-deprivation. In the week he had been down, he hadn’t slept once; the nightmares were too bad. Eventually, he couldn’t hold back, and he passed out on the couch. Luckily, he was so exhausted that he didn’t dream. Unluckily, when he finally woke, he wasn’t alone.

              He peered open his eyes and saw Bucky perched in the chair by the couch. Tony immediately sat up, eyes wide. Bucky just raised an eyebrow at him, his face calm. But his eyes were bright and intense.

              “What the hell?” Tony demanded, his voice high.

              “You’ve been avoiding me,” Bucky stated in a flat voice, and Tony opened his mouth to deny it, but what was the point? He had been.

              “Alright,” he admitted with a shrug. “Yeah. So?” A muscle in the soldier’s jaw twitched, but other than that his expression remained unchanged.

              “Wanna tell me _why_?” Bucky requested. Tony exhaled, and pulled his covers up to hide the reactor (he couldn’t ever sleep with a shirt on).

              “The battle,” he explained, feeling uncomfortable under Bucky’s scrutiny. “It should never have happened. I, uh- I’m sorry. I know you didn’t want to, but I did it anyways, so I’m sorry.” Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

              “Wait, what- what happened?” he asked, and Tony leaned forward.

              “You don’t know?” he demanded, and Bucky just narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Tony swallowed, because wow, now he felt _really_ uncomfortable. Now he had to outright tell Bucky that he had kissed him.

              “No,” Bucky grumbled. “I just remember coming to, uh, kissing you.” His voice was gruff, and he avoided Tony’s eyes when he spoke.

              “I’m sorry,” Tony blurted, panicked. “I didn’t know what else to do. I was talking to you, and you seemed to be coming around, but you weren’t you yet, so I just kissed you, and I know I shouldn’t have, and I’m so, so sorry-” Bucky cut him off by pressing a metal finger to Tony’s lips. Tony fell silent, and stared at Bucky with wide, apologetic eyes.

              “Wait, you…you kissed me?” Bucky asked softly, and Tony just nodded. Bucky sat back, and ran his hands through his hair, huffing out a laugh.

              “What’s funny?” Tony demanded, kind of hurt that Bucky was laughing.           

              “I thought I kissed you!” he exclaimed. Tony swallowed, and stood up, momentarily forgetting that he was shirtless.

              “Great,” Tony said coolly. “Now that that’s settled, can you please leave?” Bucky immediately sobered up, and seemed to notice Tony’s expression. He stood as well, looking strangely contrite.

              “I’m sorry I was laughing, Tony,” Bucky apologized softly. “But I thought that I kissed you, and that you didn’t want me to.”

              “Are you serious?” Tony cried, shocked.

              “You were crying!” Bucky defended himself. “I don’t know what happened! I thought that the Winter Soldier kissed you because _I_ wanted to, and he doesn’t suppress his urges and everything, and-”

              “Wait, you wanted to kiss me?” Tony breathed, and Bucky stopped rambling, appraising Tony with cautious blue-gray eyes.

              “Yeah,” he finally admitted, licking his lips slightly. “Yeah, I do.” Tony blinked, feeling a lump in his throat.

              “But on the Quinjet, you said you didn’t want to talk to me because you knew how I felt,” Tony reminded him. Bucky winced.

              “I, uh, actually thought you didn’t like me…like that,” Bucky confessed, and Tony’s jaw dropped.

              “Bucky, how could you _not_ know?” Tony demanded. “I’m completely head over heels in _love_ with you, and you actually thought I didn’t _like_ you?”

              “You love me?” Bucky asked softly, his eyes hopeful. Tony nodded.

              “How could I not?” he replied simply. “You’re amazing, Buck. I thought _you_ didn’t like _me_!” Bucky just chuckled, stepping forward and grabbing Tony around the waist, pulling the engineer against him. Tony’s breath hitched in his throat.

              “I love you, too, so much,” Bucky said softly, his voice sincere. “I guess we just need to work on our communication skills then, huh?” He was smiling widely, his eyes ridiculously affectionate as they locked with Tony’s.

              “I suppose so,” Tony hummed in agreement, and when their lips met, they both knew that it was right.

 


End file.
